Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7. I'd like to deal with the first
three verses of this seventh chapter. Let's read verses 1
to 3. then ask our Lord's blessing
upon His word. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also
Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation
king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, who
is king of peace, or which is, I'm sorry, king of peace, without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,
abideth a priest continually." Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening we approach
You only in our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our Father, we ask You, would
You bless this Word to our heart? ears to hear, a heart that understands,
a heart that is comforted, a heart that rejoices. Lord, thank You
for the time that we've got. We thank You and praise You for
Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul has been dealing In this book, this book sits
forth the glory of the one of whom Aaron was a type, a picture. These Jews came up and viewed
and saw that Aaronic priesthood. They saw. Those sacrifices, they
saw the slaying of those animals. They saw that blood. And now
the Apostle is going to set forth the glory of the One who has
been manifested, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul sets Him forth in the glory
of the priesthood. Now when we stop for just a moment
again and realize we must have a priest, as I said last week,
man by nature thinks that he has the ability to approach God
on his own merit. And Almighty God is not going
to be and any other by any other except in absolute holiness. Now you stop and think. Think
of the foolishness of our old wicked hearts. Think that we
can approach God. I read something the other day
It was written by Brother Henry Mayhem, and it was concerning
the ark when the ark was being transported. It was on a cart
being pulled by some oxen. And you remember when that ark
was being transported, it kind of rocked a little bit. Uzzah
thought that that ark was going to fall over, and I don't doubt
for one second that his intentions were honorable. In his mind,
I don't think that he meant to do anything other than lend his
hand of assistance. That ark, glorious picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation by God's grace. That was a picture
of Him, Christ, our mercy seat, our ark. And when that man Uzzah
reached out to put his hand of assistance on that ark, and in
his motion, in his touching, in his movement when he touched
that and said, I'll help you out, God killed him. Almighty God is not going to
be approached in anything other than absolute Now, God's priest
must be one that is consecrated, set apart by God Almighty to
that office. For God to accept a priest, God
provides the priest. Our Lord Jesus Christ set apart,
appointed to that office. That priest was to offer the
sacrifice of God's choosing. Almighty God was going to have
to be honored in the sacrifice that was given. That priest was
to pray and to intercede for the people and bless the people. in Jehovah's name, in Jehovah's
authority. And he had to be suited in character. He had to be able to be a mediator. That's what a priest was. He
was a mediator between God and men. And he had to be able to
touch both parties with absolute knowledge, our blessed Savior. made in the likeness of His people,
likeness of sense of flesh, made like unto His brethren. Now,
we have, according to God's Word, we looked at this last week,
we have a hope. In the closing words of chapter
6, we beheld that glorious hope and the truth. We've got God's
Word, promise and God's hope. God said, I'll do it, and God
did it. That's what it is. I will have
mercy, He gave His only begotten Son. Verse 19 of the last chapter,
verse 19-20, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil. Wherefore,
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made and High Priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. There is, at this moment, there
is a High Priest, the High Priest, the King, the Priest, the Prophet
of Almighty God, interceding, ever living to make intercession
for us. approaching Almighty God on His
own merit with His own blood. He is the sacrifice. He is God's
satisfaction. This is my beloved Son whom I'm
well pleased at to stop and think that He was made like unto me. Flesh, blood. walked on this earth as a representative
of all of his people, laid down his life, made atonement, put
away their guilt, buried, raised, ascended, ever living. When we hear about the great
high priest, and we see Him set forth in this glorious person
who I truly believe was our Lord and Savior, Melchizedek. We are reminded of the eternality
of the priesthood of our blessed Savior. Now you remember Aaron
was a picture of Christ and Melchizedek is a picture of Christ. Aaron
was a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ in the days of His humiliation. The Aaronic Order started. The
Aaronic Order ended. Our Lord Jesus Christ in His
humiliation. He was born into this world.
He died and ascended into heaven. But as far as Him being a priest
after the order of Melchizedek, that is an eternal priesthood.
He ever liveth. Now, the Spirit of God sets forth
in this blessed chapter, chapter 7, the revelation of who this
glorious man, Melchizedek, a wonderful picture type of our Lord. Oh, I think more. This blessed
man. We read about him in the book.
Let's go back to Genesis for just a minute. I think on this, I was telling
Andy a minute ago when I was contemplating this message, when
I consider the glory of our blessed high priest, the great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, set forth by this man Melchizedek, This
is the only time that this man is ever mentioned to have been
actually seen on this earth. Right here, one time. This is
the only mention of him. Now, he's spoken of in Psalm
110, verse 4, and then in Hebrews where we are in the book of Hebrews.
But this is the only time that this man is ever actually set
forth as being seen. Right here. The Scripture says,
Genesis 14, verse 18, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth
bread and wine. Before I go any farther, stop
and just think for just a minute. You know, whenever Aaron approached Almighty God there
in that tabernacle. He never could go in without
blood. Never could enter without blood. Here, Melchizedek is said to
bring forth bread and wine. That bread and that wine, you
know, that sets forth our glorious Lord. He took that bread and
that wine. He told them, he said, this is
my body. This is my blood. Now here's Melchizedek. Where
was the blood? It was flowing in his veins.
Where was the shedding of it? It was shed before the foundation
of the world. The Father always viewed that.
Here's the setting forth of the satisfaction. of our blessed
Savior. He came forth with bread and
wine, and He was the priest of the Most High God. And the Scripture
says, and He blessed him. God Almighty had told Abraham,
He said, I'm going to bless you. Blessing, I'll bless you. And
here was this Melchizedek. God's priest, and he blessed
Abraham. And here was the blessing. He
said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven
and earth, and blessed be the Most High God which hath delivered
thine enemies into thine hand and gave him tithes of all. I
want you to look and just listen to that mediator right there. He told Abraham, he said, God
Almighty has blessed you. And then he blessed the Most
High God for Abraham's sake. This man, Melchizedek, first
time the word priest is ever mentioned. This man, Melchizedek, blessed
Abraham in whose loins? In Abraham's loins. The Aaronic
priesthood was going to come. Aaron was in Abraham coming. And here is Melchizedek before
Aaron ever came on the scene. Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Here's the eternal priest. Here's
the everlasting priesthood. The Scripture says back in Hebrews
chapter 7, this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the
Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter
of the kings and blessed him. Melchizedek met Abraham. You
notice that Abraham didn't approach Melchizedek. No man ever approaches
Almighty God except God Almighty approach him first. No man seeks
after God. There's none righteous. No, not
one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. Think of the mercy of Almighty
God. But here comes Abraham from the
slaughter of these kings. His nephew was in a lot. I can't remember his family.
Nephew. Over there, trouble. Abraham
gets the 300 men. He goes. God Almighty blesses
him. And he takes everything. Slaughters those kings. Takes
everything that was theirs. And he's coming back with a victory. And here's this man, Melchizedek. this priest, the priest of the
Most High God, and approaches Abraham and he blesses him. Blessed, blessed. God Almighty
has blessed you. That's the marvelous message
that we've got tonight. There is a priest of God's order
that stands between God Almighty and men, the mediator. And God Almighty is satisfied
with him. And in him, he's satisfied with
all of his people. Melchizedek, king of Salem. And Scripture says, by interpretation,
king of righteousness, king of priests, sets forth him who has
all authority in heaven and earth. Here's the king of righteousness,
king of priests, priest of the Most High God, the one in whom
God is well pleased. That office of that priesthood
was an offering. It was an office of offering. A sacrifice had to be given. Sin is going to have to be atoned
for. Sin is going to have to be paid.
There's a debt. I owe a debt that I can't pay. He paid a debt in my stead. He hath made Him sin who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
That priest prayed and interceded for the people. Our Lord and
Savior standing as the mediator between God and men because there
has been a breach. alienated by our rebellion, there
is going to have to be a reconciliation. And you hath He reconciled by
His blood, by His sacrifice. God Almighty is well pleased.
And when I think that all of this is being revealed in time,
but God has always been pleased. He's always seen the priest.
He's always seen the Mediator. There's always been a surety.
God Almighty has always loved His people for the sake of His
Son, for the sake of the Savior, for the sake of that Mediator.
God Almighty, just God, Savior, merciful God. Oh, how He looks
upon His Son with pleasure and in His Son, His people too. Melchizedek, he met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings and he blessed him. Blessed him. I looked that up. To ask good
things for another. He asked good things for another.
And he blessed him. Blessed be Abram by Him who is
the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. Only by
our Lord Jesus Christ are we, His people, blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Blessed be you, Abraham, by the
Most High God. I got to thinking about some
of those blessings. Let me just mention a few. Elected in Christ Jesus before
the world began. What a blessing! What was it that caused God to
set His affection on anyone? The Scripture says it pleased
Him to do so. I know that there is not one
good thing in any man that God Almighty looked down and saw.
You know better now. It pleased Him to do so. Chosen
in Christ. Listen to this blessing. Righteousness
established by the obedience of our blessed Savior and imputed
to His people. What a blessing. I don't know how to say thank
you. I wonder how many times I've
said that in the last couple of years. Boy, but here's one
I don't know how to thank you. I don't know how. Thankful? Yes. Thankful as I ought to be? No. Thankful as I shall be? No. But thankful. Thankful. Redemption by His blood. I try to enter into the fault
of Christ made sin. Made sin. You know that. Made what we are. Made a curse. Almighty God dealt
with Him as the curse. Almighty God forsook Him that
He would not forsake us. Redemption. Paid, bought back. Eternal adoption according to
God's good pleasure. Chosen in the Beloved. Sons. Sons of God. How about this one? Heirs of God in joint heirs with
Christ. Now just for a moment, just stop
and think. An heir of God. God Almighty
is our inheritance. And a joint heir with Christ.
All that Almighty God has for Him, He has for us in Him. A joint
heir with Christ. How about this? Seated with Him
in the heavenly seated with Him, reigning with Him. I mean, there's times that you
stop and just begin to think of what Almighty God has done
for His people in the blessed Mediator, Savior, High Priest. And every mouth is just stopped. These things are too high for
us, aren't they? Eternal life. Forgiveness of
sin. Eternally in the presence of
Almighty God. Beholding His glory. Father,
I will that those that You've given me be with me where I am. I know that right now we're veiled
in what we can see. We know in part, see in part,
preach in part, because we don't know everything. See through
a glass doctor. But I know in that blessed moment
when this body of corruption is put off, we'll change. Paul
said we're all going to be changed. That moment, the twinkling of
an eye. We're not all going to sleep, but we're all going to
be changed. This flesh and blood is not going to inherit heaven. Something's going to happen.
There's a spiritual body. There's an earthly body. Spiritual
body. Blessed. The Scripture says that
Melchizedek met Abraham. He blessed him. Blessed him. To whom, verse 2, also Abraham
gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king
of righteousness and after that also king of Salem, which is
king of peace. Blessed. Be the most high God,
which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand, and he gave
him tithes of all." That's what it said back in Genesis 14, 20.
Paul is setting forth what was said there. It appears that Abraham
gave a tenth part of the spoils, but it was that he gave it unto
God Almighty, not to Melchizedek, personally, but out of an act
of obedience and thankfulness to God Almighty. 1 Corinthians
16. He gave. He gave. Obedience,
honor, 2 Corinthians 9, 7, Every man according
as he has purposed in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly
or of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver. It's not that God's love is determined
by a man's giving. A man gives because God Almighty
has given him a heart to give. God Almighty gave obedience. Abraham gave a tenth of all to
God Himself through Melchizedek. He who the Scripture says was
first by interpretation King of Righteousness and after that
also King of Salem which is King of Peace. Now I want you to notice
the order in which his character is set forth. First being by
interpretation King of righteousness. After that, king of peace. Oh, how beautifully is our Lord's
character set forth in the accomplishment for his people. Righteousness,
God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ is the maker and giver
of peace because He's the Lord, our righteousness. Righteousness
establishes peace. We have peace with God because
of Him who is righteous. And that righteousness imputed
to us, we have peace with God in Him. Righteousness. Isaiah 32, 17 says, And the work
of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness.
Now listen to this, the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. The effect of righteousness. When a man by faith knows that
he stands in Christ righteous before God, holy before God,
accepted in the Beloved, his heart is quiet. He got some assurance. God Almighty has accepted me. Not by works of righteousness
that I have done, but according to His mercy. Almighty God has
chosen to show me mercy in Christ, in my Mediator. in my great high
priest. This great high priest, king
of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is
king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like
unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually." Now that
great difference I was telling you about a minute ago between
the order of Aaron the order of Melchizedek. The order of
Aaron required a precise genealogy. In the book of Ezra, I'll just
read this to you, Ezra 2, verses 61-62, it says, And the children
of the priest, the children of Habara, the children of Chaz,
the children of Barzilii, which took a wife of the daughters
of Barzillai, the Gileite, and was called after their name.
These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy,
but they were not found. Therefore were they as polluted
and put from the priesthood." There had to be a record, genealogy. It had to be established. That
record had to be sure. That record had to be precise.
And if your name was not found in the record, you were put out
of the priesthood. There had to be a lineage. It had to start somewhere. It
had to have a beginning. It had to have a starting, a
foundation, a source. It had to be somewhere. But not him. Not him. He never started. He never began. Melchizedek, the scripture says,
there was no record. No record of his father. No record
of his mother. No record of his ancestry. No
record of his birth. No record of his death. Here is what the record said.
He abided for priests continually. For Almighty God to eternally
love His people, there had to be an eternal reason. For Almighty God to have chosen
us before the foundation of the world, there had to have been
one in whom we were chosen. no father, no mother, no descent,
no beginning of days, no end of life, made like unto the Son
of God, abideth a priest forever. Here is one, Melchizedek, he who sets forth the eternal
priesthood of our Lord, one that knows his people, made like unto
his people, Touched with the feelings of their infirmities.
Knows that they are dust. God Himself. The glorious Christ. God. Man. Altogether God Almighty. Altogether Man. Not half and
half. God. Man. Came into this world. took upon
Himself that form and now lives forever just like
that. There's a man in glory seated
on the throne of Almighty God. And he that the Father spoke
of and said, I'm well pleased with Him. That's the one. that ever liveth
to answer before God Almighty on His own merit for His people,
our great High Priest in whom we are accepted. God Almighty
is pleased with us for His sake. Always pleased with Him. Ever
pleased with Him. And we'll ever be with Him. May
the Lord bless these words to our heart on this glorious subject
of Melchizedek, the great high priest of God, God's priest,
God's eternal priest, for His glory and our good. Amen.